We’re a dog-loving household, sharing our home with a diminutive Jackapoo – a cross between a Jack Russell and a poodle, combining wilful bloody-mindedness and brains, if you believe the hype. In any case she’s a handful – and a yappy one at that. Because of her size and general demeanour, we refer to her as a permanent puppy, but she’s seven – which makes her a respectable middle-aged 49 in dog years. Or does it?

We found out this week that dogs age differently than we thought and that the ageing process can depend on breed and size. A pooch like our Betty, for example, will have reached sexual maturity young and will spend a long time in middle age, as long as she keeps up her exercise.

Of course, exercise is a way of slowing down the ageing process for humans too. As long as we don’t become too obsessed with it. But new research suggests that far from being a liberating pastime that gives us all a wellbeing boost, running has become a way to indicate status on social media – a 21st-century cult which keeps us in thrall to big business and can even affect our job prospects.

And so to the general election. There were four women on stage in the seven-way election debate on the BBC last night but that doesn’t necessarily reflect the rest of the campaign which has been decidedly male. Mind you, at least in the UK, politicians are better at keeping their promises than in most other nations. Although, like much else, this changed after 2017.

This week we said goodbye to two giants of the arts: Jonathan Miller and Clive James, while from the US we learned why fungi should be treasured, especially by bon viveurs.

Contact us here to have your event listed.

For sponsorship opportunities, email us here